In a battle of knockout artists, Alexander Shlemenko got the better of a very game Brian Rogers.

The matchup served as the main event of Bellator 54, which took place Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The main card aired live on MTV2 while the preliminary card streamed on Spike.com.

Round one was back-and-forth action as both men loaded up on single strikes looking to add to their respective highlight reels.

Shlemenko did his best work with body kicks and a spinning back kick. Rogers, on the other hand, landed numerous right hands as his counterpart continued to move inside looking to clinch. Rogers appeared to earn the round due to landing the cleaner, harder strikes. And for the first time since May 2009, he would see the second round.

The second stanza began with a Rogers takedown following a missed spinning backfist by Shlemenko.

Shlemenko was able to get back to his feet relatively easy and landed a hard body punch before he circled away. He remained focused on landing his patented spinning backfist moving forward and he eventually found a home for it.

Shlemekno caught Rogers flush on the chin and moved forward looking to finish the fight.

In the flurry, Shlemenko landed a hard knee, three right hands and another knee before the pair clinched and reset in the center. Rogers was battered and wobbly, but not out of it yet.

“The Predator” landed a solid right cross in the next exchange, which briefly startled Shlemenko and led to him initiating a Muay Thai clinch. Once there, multiple clean knee strikes from Schlemenko got the ball rolling downhill for good. All appeared to land flush on the head of Rogers as he doubled over against the fence. Two additional knees sealed the deal.

In the end, the amount of punishment sustained by Rogers was significant and he could only hold on so long.

With the win, Schlemenko (42-7 MMA, 6-1 BFC) advances to the middleweight tournament finals and moves one step closer to a potential rematch with current champion Hector Lombard. Conversely, Rogers (8-3 MMA, 1-1 BFC) falls to .500 since joining the Bellator promotion.

Jiu-jitsu ace Vianna scores knockout on overanxious Baker

It was clear from the start of the fight Bryan Baker had no respect whatsoever for the kickboxing of decorated jiu-jitsu specialist Vitor Vianna.

It proved to be his downfall.

Baker started fast looking to press the action. He through caution to the wind with his wild boxing and it cost him as he left himself vulnerable to counters. Vianna landed an overhand right behind the ear of Baker that dropped him.

The Wand Fight Team product moved in, missed with what would have been an illegal soccer kick, and finished him off with a series of hammer fists.

Vianna (12-1-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) earns the second spot in the finals of the middleweight tournament. Baker (16-3 MMA, 6-2 BFC), on the other hand, loses for just the second time in his past 12 fights.

Champ Makovsky cruises in non-title affair

In non-title action, bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky took care of business against an overmatched Ryan Roberts.

Noticeably smaller in stature, “Fun Size” controlled the bout with low kicks and straight left hands on the feet, while showing off his speed advantage in the process.
Two easy takedowns sprinkled in from the former Drexel University wrestling product Makovsky both saw him move to north-south position.

The first time Roberts was able to get back to his feet. The second time, not so much. Makovsky locked in and secured a north-south choke forcing Roberts to tap.

Bellator champions are now 12-0 in non-title fights.

Makovsky (14-2 MMA, 6-0 BFC) wins for the eighth time in a row and awaits the winner of the season five bantamweight tournament. Meanwhile, Roberts (16-10-1, 0-2) is still searching for his first Bellator win.

Debuting Kirwan halts Nazare’s long unbeaten streak

It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough to earn Jacob Kirwan his first win in Bellator.

Rene Nazare moved forward out of the gate looking to mix up his attack with low kicks and combinations. After sprawling to nullify Kirwan’s initial takedown attempt, he found himself on his back seconds later after an outside trip.

The jiu-jitsu black belt was able to easily sweep and ended up in Kirwan’s guard, where he did minor damage. Referee Kevin MacDonald eventually stood the pair up due to inactivity. Kirwan caught a kick with around a minute left in the round and remained in side control attempting to isolate Nazare’s right arm as the round ended.

An early takedown by Kirwan in the second frame led to multiple minutes of top control. A referee reset later and Kirwan had it back down almost instantaneously. With under a minute left Nazare was able to wiggle free and land a takedown of his own.

The third round was more of the same as Kirwan registered a single leg takedown, which led to stifling top control. Again, with under a minute left, Nazare was able to get up and score a takedown of his own, but it was too little, too late.

Kirwan (9-3 MMA, 1-0 BFC) wins for just the second time in his past four fights, while Nazare (10-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC) earns his first career blemish.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.